13-09-1964

Attempted coup against Khanh government fails

Dissident South Vietnamese army officers attempt to overthrow General Nguyen Khan’s government in Saigon, calling their movement the People’s Council for the Salvation of the Nation. General Lam Van Phat, who had been dismissed as interior minister on September 3, and General Duong Van Duc, commander of 4th Corps, led the attempt. Government troops loyal to Khanh moved against the coup’s main base near Tan Son Nhut, but the final blow to the coup came when Air Marshall Nguyen Cao Ky sent air force planes to fly over the insurgent generals’ headquarters and threatened to bomb them if they did not surrender. This incident was part of the long-running political turbulence in South Vietnam that followed the assassination of former President Ngo Dinh Diem.